“Telling Steven anything would only give him ammunition to make fun of me.”

“He smiled at me, and that smile – he just gets in. His smile did it every time.”

“He seemed nervous, which made me feel less nervous.”

“She had braces, but on her they looked interesting, like teeth jewelry and not like orthodontics.”

“I knew it was futile to resist, but I always tried.”

“It was a summer, I’d never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it. Pretty, I mean. Every summer up to this one, I believed it’d be different. Life would be different. And that summer, it finally was. I was.”

“Over his shoulder Conrad said, ‘Good night, Belly.’ And that was it. I was in love.”

“He had that amused, condescending Conrad look on his face, the one that drove me crazy.”

“I love a challenge. Didn’t I win class president last year? And class secretary the year before that?”